Ludvig Beckman

Emil Uddhammar

Debate about the concept of virtue is a persistent theme in academic discourse. One strand of thinking attempts to examine and reconstruct ethical theories with the aim of formulating a new morality or ethics. A second strand of thought, more strongly represented in this work, attempts to explore the social and political world deploying the concept of virtue. Thus, this volume crosses the established borders of academic disciplines in order to provide a richer and more comprehensive understanding of the place of virtues in contemporary western societies. The editors hold that the dominating virtue of our culture and society is the virtue of independence. Yet independence, or individual autonomy, is contingent upon a diverse, and so far ill-understood, set of cultural, biological, economic, ethical, and political practices. The idea of individuality is in other words supervening on a web of formal and informal relations. This volume therefore attempts to improve our understanding of the prevailing ethos of independence as well as of the mechanisms and practices sustaining it. Virtues are examined in specific contexts. Authors explore what we can learn about our dependence on virtues from the archaic Greek culture. They examine the relevance of virtue-ethics to the understanding of day-to-day practices. And they look at the place of virtues in understanding the norms of independence and liberty. Other contributions attend to the virtues of independence and its challenges, examining possible philosophical challenges, questioning whether independence is always a virtue, and how the virtues of justice fare given a commitment to the virtues of independence. The final portion of the book explore the empirical consequences of the virtues of independence. Among the questions addressed are how personal independence affects political and economic institutions, and the connections between norms of independence and the growth of modernity. This volume is an important contribution to contemporary understanding of what constitutes virtuous and ethical behavior. Ludvig Beckman teaches political theory in the department of government at Uppsala University. He is the author of The Liberal State and the Politics of Virtue, and has written several articles on liberal political thought. Emil Uddhammar is research director at the City University of Stockholm, and is the co-editor (with Richard Swedberg) of Sociological Endeavor, a festschrift in honor of Hans L. Zetterberg.

Virtues of Independence and Dependence on Virtues

Richard Swedberg

Hans Lennart Zetterberg

In this, the twentieth volume in the Transaction series honoring distinguished social scientists of the twentieth century, the life and work of the eminent Swedish sociologist, Hans L. Zetterberg is featured. He has had a long and distinguished career in a number of fields including, sociology, publishing, private business and public policy. For many years he was head of the Swedish Institute for Opinion Research, SIFO, and more recently he has been active in the creation of Sweden's only private university, the City University of Stockholm. In this volume the focus is on Zetterberg's activities as a sociologist, and the reader gets an opportunity to become acquainted with the work of one of Sweden's most prominent sociologists. The contributions cover a period of several decades and include several of Zetterberg's classical articles as well as an excerpt from his most famous book, On Theory and Verification in Sociology. Many recent articles can also be found in the volume, and these well testify to the relevance of Hans Zetterberg's work to contemporary issues. This book is an outstanding sampling of Zetterberg. It is must reading for aspiring sociologists. He provides tools for analyzing distinct national cultures. Zetterberg has shown how one person by combining the roles of scholar, pollster, editor and businessman can integrate insights from each to help us understand modernity.

Sociological Endeavor

Elliott Green

Johanna Söderström

This book takes a closer look at the role and meaning of political opposition for the development of democracy across sub-Saharan Africa. Why is room for political opposition in most cases so severely limited? Under what circumstances has the political opposition been able to establish itself in a legitimate role in African politics? To answer these questions this edited volume focuses on the institutional settings, the nature and dynamics within and between political parties, and the relationship between the citizens and political parties. It is found that regional devolution and federalist structures enable political opposition to organize and gain local power, as a supplement to influence at the central level. Generally, however, opposition parties are lacking in organization and institutionalization, as well as in their ability to find support in civil society and promote the issues that voters find most important. Overall, strong executive powers, unchecked by democratic institutions, in combination with deferential values and fear of conflict, undermine legitimate opposition activity. This book was originally published as a special issue of Democratization.

Emil Uddhammar

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